Sunday, February 22, 2015

A plan sprouted by city Grade 7 students to help feed vulnerable Calgarians grew into a donation to help purchase one million seeds.

Back in December, Lisa Hood, teacher at the Calgary Girls’ School, told her leadership class about Grow Calgary. Within a matter of days, the girls held a fundraiser and rounded up almost $900 for the cause.

After the class participated in the Stuff-a-Bus campaign, they noticed that a majority of donated food was processed or boxed. Twelve-year-old Carly Cheung, one of the girls in the class, said that she wanted to help people have access to healthy options.

“I imagined myself in the position of someone who didn’t have the nutritious food that we have,” she said.

“And if you have a family, it would be even worse, because it’s one thing to not be able to feed yourself, but it’s another thing to know there are a whole bunch of people who you love that you can’t feed either. That really motivated me.”

The Grow Calgary farm is Canada’s largest urban garden. It sits on an 11-acre plot of land, with volunteers growing fresh produce for the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank. Paul Hughes, who organized the massive effort, said the girls’ effort is “inspiring to the entire organization.”

He said the donation will not only pay for one million seeds for the next harvest, but will also be used to invest in their “seed farm,” which cultivate seeds that can thrive in Alberta.

“What the seed farm is doing, and what the girls are contributing to, is the development of a local seed that is resilient for the Calgary environment,” he said.

Anjali Ford, 12, said she didn’t expect to raise so much money, but now that they have, she feels like she made a difference.

“I feel really proud because we came up with this idea ourselves,” she said. “It’s one thing for a teacher to have you do something, but it’s a whole other things to do something really big by yourself.”

Hood said that the girls were inspired by the fact that Grow Calgary was helping to feed those in need in a new way, and they wanted to help any way they could.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

In 2013, nearly 130 000 Calgarians turned to the Calgary Interfath Food Bank (CIFB) for help. 42% of emergency hamper recipients are children.Grow Calgary is a volunteer led, food access initiative that aims to provide the CIFB with fresh, organic, locally grown produce to supplement Emergency Food Hampers. Now in our 2nd season, Grow Calgary's 1300+ volunteers have turned an 11 acre parcel of land on the Transportation & Utility Corridor (Ring Road), just off the TransCanada Highway west of Canada Olympic Park, into Canada’s largest urban farm and food access program.Grow Calgary subscribes to repurposing, upcycling and innovative reuse of construction/industrial material to build our small scale food production infrastructure.Grow Calgary is part of the compassionate local food system of Calgary. We do not sell any of our 14 varieties of produce and all the food we grow goes exclusively and directly to the CIFB.Grow Calgary aligns with numerous City of Calgary and Province of Alberta policies and fundamentally believes every Calgarian, Albertan & Canadian has a right to quality, nutritious food.Grow Calgary helps those in need provide superior dense nourishment for their families.Grow Food, Grow People, Grow Calgary.Twitter/Instagram @growcalgaryFacebook: Grow Calgaryfarm@growcalgary.ca 403.383.3420

Saturday, January 18, 2014

I remember a meeting with Chima Nkemdirim @chimaincalgary (Mayor Nenshi's @Nenshi Chief of Staff) in
late 2010. He asked me what my business model was for growing food &
#Urbanag. I asked what his & the city's business model was for growing grass (Kentucky Blue Grass).

There are 10's of 1000's of local food production economic development
opportunities (all sustainable, healthy, nutritious, align with policy:
Triple Bottomline, Sustainability 2020, Onward, imagineCALGARY,
Food Assessment Action Plan, et al). There are very few for growing
grass other than golf/turf management (Almost none that are sustainable,
as most require, or are addicted to, massive doses of chemical
fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides & significant maintenance
resources to the tune of 1,000,000 person hours/annually in #YYC).

The Calgary Food Committee has been around for over 2 years & has,
like so many #YYCCC committees, devolved into a back slapping networking
opportunity. There is literally nothing that has changed in the #YYC
#UrbanAg Local Food System landscape in these 2 years. There is still no
#UrbanAg
Zoning. There are no new #UrbanAg programs. No comprehensive, ranking,
weighted, land inventory to access for aspiring urban farmers (We do
however have some 111,000 acres of unused, empty land in #YYC). We
continue to exist in a simple proteins only local food environment. Of
course, all of this has been suggested to individuals at the highest
municipal level, in council committees & to individual elected and
non elected officials throughout municipal government since 2008.

Friday, January 17, 2014

The Role of an Ombudsman in Strengthening Municipal Democracy

The institution of the ombudsman, first created in Sweden more
than 200 years ago, is designed to provide protection for the
individual where there is a substantial imbalance of power.Initially, this imbalance was between the citizen and the
state but as the institution has developed, it has embraced other
sectors. Ombudsmen now exist, not just in the public sector, but also
covering the private and independent sectors.As well as considering complaints about public services,
Ombudsman Association member schemes consider disputes between
consumers and companies or between universities and students, for
example. However, in the private sector, coverage is fragmented and
sparse with, in a very few cases, some duplication (where the ‘industry
member’ can choose which scheme to belong to). None of this is ideal,
but will require legislation to improve the situation as few sectors
now readily establish schemes voluntarily.

What ombudsmen do

Ombudsmen offer their services free of charge, and are thus
accessible to individuals who could not afford to pursue their
complaints through the courts.

They are committed to achieving redress for the individual,
but also, where they identify systemic failings, to seek changes in the
work of the bodies in their jurisdiction, both individually and
collectively.

They can generally undertake a single investigation into
multiple complaints about the same topic, thus avoiding duplication and
excessive cost.

They are neutral arbiters and not advocates nor “consumer champions”.

They normally ask the body concerned and the complainant to try to resolve complaints before commencing an investigation.

They usually seek to resolve disputes without resort to formal investigations where this is possible and desirable.

Where they identify injustice, they seek to put this right.

In the private sector, ombudsmen usually have the power to
make recommendations which are binding on the bodies in their
jurisdiction unless successfully challenged through the courts. The
cost of their services is normally met by a charge to the bodies in
their jurisdiction. Most are established by, or as a result of,
statute, and the relevant industry or sector is obliged to participate
in the scheme.

Monday, January 13, 2014

An Ombudsman for Calgary. It's an imagineCalgary Target for 2008, but yet, 6 years later, Calgarians are still waiting for Calgary City Council to initiate this official policy. Montreal & Toronto have civic Ombudsmen.

Alberta provincial government dollars are available as defined in the MSI: "Eligible operating projects include capacity building activities that improve efficiency or effectiveness..."

Let's look a little closer at how an Ombudsman can strengthen our municipal democracy:

The Role of an OmbudsmanThe institution of the ombudsman, first created in Sweden more
than 200 years ago, is designed to provide protection for the
individual where there is a substantial imbalance of power.Initially, this imbalance was between the citizen and the
state but as the institution has developed, it has embraced other
sectors. Ombudsmen now exist, not just in the public sector, but also
covering the private and independent sectors.As well as considering complaints about public services,
Ombudsman Association member schemes consider disputes between
consumers and companies or between universities and students, for
example. However, in the private sector, coverage is fragmented and
sparse with, in a very few cases, some duplication (where the ‘industry
member’ can choose which scheme to belong to). None of this is ideal,
but will require legislation to improve the situation as few sectors
now readily establish schemes voluntarily.

What Ombudsmen Do

Ombudsmen offer their services free of charge, and are thus
accessible to individuals who could not afford to pursue their
complaints through the courts.

They are committed to achieving redress for the individual,
but also, where they identify systemic failings, to seek changes in the
work of the bodies in their jurisdiction, both individually and
collectively.

They can generally undertake a single investigation into
multiple complaints about the same topic, thus avoiding duplication and
excessive cost.

They are neutral arbiters and not advocates nor “consumer champions”.

They normally ask the body concerned and the complainant to try to resolve complaints before commencing an investigation.

They usually seek to resolve disputes without resort to formal investigations where this is possible and desirable.

Where they identify injustice, they seek to put this right.

In the private sector, ombudsmen usually have the power to
make recommendations which are binding on the bodies in their
jurisdiction unless successfully challenged through the courts. The
cost of their services is normally met by a charge to the bodies in
their jurisdiction. Most are established by, or as a result of,
statute, and the relevant industry or sector is obliged to participate
in the scheme.